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Everyone involved even tangentially in software development has heard the word “agile.” The C-suite executives might say “we need to become more agile” or “is that vendor more agile than the others?” It’s a common word in this realm, but what does it really mean, and how is it achieved? Agile is essentially a set of principles for the organization. As the company makes decisions about its technology and processes, it can check those decisions against the agile philosophy to make sure there’s alignment. Over time, the idea is for the entire team to lean towards the “agile” way of doing things, which might include how to dynamically respond to changing conditions and the need for software that improves the user experience.

Prioritization is fundamentally a way of developing ideas and then setting an order for preferred completion for each idea, thereby creating a ranking of importance. It’s especially difficult within a company structure because there are so many stakeholders and various personal opinions. However, according to a Harvard Business Review article, the payoff for prioritization is impressive, “Prioritizing increases the success rates of strategic projects, increases the alignment and focus of senior management teams around strategic goals, clears all doubts for the operational teams when faced with decisions, and, most important, builds an execution mindset and culture.”

ERC stands for Ethereum Request for Contract, and they are documents used by the Ethereum smart contract developer community. Each ERC defines various rules that affect how tokens can be used within Ethereum. There’s a formal process for approving ERCs, with revisions and commentary provided through the community.

The main reason for ERC-1400’s development is to improve the security compliance of security tokens offered on the Ethereum network. This is driven by the increase in the number of security token offerings (STOs) and the broader desire to expand the interest in STOs by solidifying them as legitimate investment vehicles. Security tokens are inherently more complex than other token use cases, and this complexity warrants continual ERC improvements. Ideally, security tokens are allowable within any jurisdiction and comply with any regulations, making it a truly global way to securitize real-world assets. This standard is still under development but promises to increase interest in security tokens and allay many regulatory concerns.

Our previous post defined security tokens and explored several uses cases for “securitizing” various investments. We explained that security tokens are backed by real-world assets that are tangibly valuable. This makes the asset more liquid because it provides a building owner, art dealer, or classic car purveyor with access to capital while still retaining ownership of the tangible “thing.” While utility tokens are typically offered with an ICO and might grow in value, but can become worthless. But the differences between these two types of tokens is a little more complex.

Before digging deeper into a security vs. utility comparison, it’s helpful to first define a “token” to provide some needed context. In the simplest form, a token is an asset or some unit of value that is offered/issued by a company. This issuance is usually done through an initial coin offering (ICO), similar to the familiar initial public offering, or IPO. Instead of stock received in an IPO, an investor receives a token that corresponds to a set monetary value. Security tokens are offered as security token offerings (STOs), another category of investing where security tokens are exchanged for fractional asset ownership. So why are tokens not considered “coins?” Coins have a payment-related use case and their own blockchain, while tokens are secondary assets that do not run on their own blockchain.

In today’s business landscape, one trait sets the best companies apart from the rest: innovation. But what is it exactly that makes innovative companies tick?

There’s a paradox that runs straight through the business world: on the one hand, we need to make all the numbers add up. We must report back to our investors and make sure our profit margins are all on track. Too much risk, in this day and age, seems like a barrier to success and growth.

Some debates are not easily resolved. Kanban or Scrum? Vim or Emacs? In the world of software, many technical engineering debates are created but never settled. True, most engineering debates can be emotional or reductionist; however, they often have little to do with actual engineering benefits, but everything to do with opinion. So it raises the question: Which testing method is the best?

One thing we can all agree on is that developers of monolith applications (of varying skill levels) have all at some point updated and patched programs, introduced complex logic, which has caused performance inefficiencies, dead code, and piles of technical debt. It makes things that much harder to change or work with, it creates inefficiencies, and naturally, reworking costs more time.

The Sharing Economy is by no means a new concept. In 2018, we have been living with this concept for some time, but what does the sharing economy mean?

Simply put, it’s typically a web or app-based platform that connects you to a lease or hire of either products or services, by the week or even by the hour. Sometimes it can be free, but typically, there is a fee.

For those that are borrowing, there is a potential saving in borrowing an item that might only be required once, instead of paying more money upfront. Then for those that are happy to share their stuff, this can enable them to make a decent additional income on the side, increasing their earning potential.

When planning your first ICO launch, you can’t leave anything to chance. Inform yourself on how to prepare your team, marketing strategy and legal issues.

ICOs, or Initial Coin Offerings, are all the rage these days. With all the ways cryptocurrencies are disrupting the global economy (and how we think about money), startups, investors and tech moguls are trying to get their own piece of the pie. You might be thinking the very same thing.

Essentially, a security token is one that “securitizes” a real-world asset. So the coin is backed by an asset that has a tangible value, unlike an ICO that involves utility coins which might accelerate in value but can also turn into ether. Security tokens enable assets to become much more liquid as they allow fractional ownership of assets. And their blockchain-based structure means the ownership rights are transparent and easily verifiable. Here’s a simplified example of security tokens at work: Your friend is starting a cat food company, but needs investors. She offers a “Meow Meow” security token for $1, with a goal of raising $250,000. Investors buy blocks of the tokens and this ownership might come with certain rights or dividends. Your friend receives the money necessary to build a business, and the investors gain ownership stakes and the potential for profits as the business succeeds.

A key benefit of security tokens is they provide liquidity to the underlying asset. They’re cryptographic tokens that pay some sort of dividend, interest, or other payment to the token holders, so they are highly liquid compared to more traditional assets such as stocks or bonds. Many in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries see security token offerings STOs as the future vehicle for investing instead of ICOs which peaked (and often crashed) in 2017.

You hear it everywhere: offices lined with cubicle workers are on their way out. The hottest startups attract new talent with promises of work-at-home Fridays. Ranks of digital nomads take their jobs to the beach.

But if you’re a manager looking to make a new hire you’ll be looking to ask one question: do remote workers outperform in-office counterparts for real?

Register for free <here> to dive into SOLID Principles in the context of Rails. We will try to avoid trivial examples in Ruby and you will be able to think about how you could apply it to… https://t.co/or7TqYMK6N

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